Aca-holy shit. The acapella comedy Pitch Perfect 2 was a huge success this weekend, grossing more than $70 million at the North American box office in its first week, beating out the mega-budgeted Mad Max: Fury Road. That’s a huge, but not unexpected number. The first Pitch Perfect was a box-office surprise, and gained an even bigger following when it was released on home platforms.
The film sees The Bellas eliminated from all acapella competition following a wardrobe malfunction controversy, which took place performing in front of Barack Obama and family. The group, crushed by the devastating news, find a loophole and are still eligible to compete at the international competition, and if they win — no American team ever has — they’ll be reinstated.
I enjoyed the film. I caught the original back when it was in theatres, and was pleasantly surprised with how many genuine laughs, and toe-tapping songs the film gave me. They took an almost unknown cast (save Anna Kendrick) and produced a hit. When news broke that Universal Pictures was going ahead with a sequel, it was nerve-wracking because I wasn’t sure they could recapture the magic of its predecessor. I think Pitch Perfect 2 was successful in doing that, but there were some glaring issues.
The film marks the directorial debut for actress Elizabeth Banks, who also starred in the film. There’s no first-time jitters, as she did a great job replicating what made the first film so successful. With a large ensemble cast, the film never feels overwhelming. What stood out for me was the additions to that cast.
Hailee Steinfeld’s Emily Junk-Hardon (yes, that’s her name) fit the film like a glove. She plays a daughter of a former Bella, who pines to be a member of the squad. For an actress whom I predominantly knew from dramas like True Grit, she had surprisingly good comic timing. She feels like a natural fit with the group. Emily’s back-and-forths with Ben Platt’s Benji are adorable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrVDuE9qtgM
Steinfeld also has an amazing voice. Her character is a songwriter, and The Bellas’ final performance features Emily’s original song Flashlight (written by Sia, Sam Smith, Christian Guzman and Pitch Perfect director Jason Moore), which could possibly become a hit just like the “Cups” song did.
The Bellas’ rivals, German group Das Sound Machine, featured two of the funniest characters in the film series. YouTuber Flula Borg played Pieter Krämer, a co-leader of the group, who was stereotypically German. He wore mesh t-shirts, talked with a thick accent and had a bevy of great lines. The group’s other co-leader was Birgitte Hjort Sørensen’s Kommissar, a fierce competitor who Anna Kendrick’s Beca couldn’t help but be fleetingly attracted too. Their performance of Muse’s “Uprising” is probably my favorite song from the series catalogue. They were stupid good, both comedically and musically.
What didn’t work out for me, was the film’s other stereotypes, some of which bordered on offensive. Chrissie Fit’s Flo, who is a Guatemalan immigrant, doesn’t stop bringing up the extremes she went through to get to America. Fit says she hopes the Latino jokes start a conversation, by trying “…to find the balance between funny and not offensive.” Ester Dean’s Cynthia-Rose is a lesbian, and that’s basically all the character talks about. She also gropes other Bellas, because she likes woman. Did you not get the memo from the first film? Alexis Knapp’s Stacie also continues to talk about nothing aside from sex. Fat Amy is fat, etc., etc., etc. The stereotypes in the first film are rehashed over and over — and they aren’t nearly as funny the second time around.
My biggest problem, though, was the lack of Skylar Astin’s Jesse. He appears sparingly throughout the film, but is never really featured. He was the best part of the first film and his lack of screen time was really disappointing. The script didn’t really call for him to do anything aside from sing (very) occasionally and support Kendrick’s Beca. You wonder where he is during key moments of the film and when he finally does show up, he’s stuck doing not all that much.
Both Platt and Adam Devine’s Bumper, both seemed to play bigger roles than Astin, which to me is weird considering how important he was in the first movie. There’s also no interest in expanding on his acapella group The Treblemakers, as Utkarsh Ambudkar, who played Donald in the first film, didn’t even show up in this one.
For the last time. I agree. It sucks I'm not in pitch perfect 2. There's plenty more to come, though. We can change Hollywood. Get my back.
— Utkarsh Ambudkar (@UTKtheINC) June 2, 2014
The reason the movie ultimately worked was the musical numbers. The same punch is brought to it as the first film. The songs are well-produced, well-sung and somehow accomplish the task of making acapella music sound cool and mainstream.
Was the movie as good as the first one? That’s unfair to say since Pitch Perfect set an unfair standard. Was it an entertaining movie? Yes, 100 percent. I hope this isn’t the last time we see The Bellas, but considering the box office boom Pitch Perfect 2 made this weekend, I suspect it won’t be.
